People listen as Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum speaks during the Rising Tide Summit at The U.S. Cellular Center on Saturday, December 05, 2015 in Cedar Rapids.
Brian Powers/The Register

Carly Fiorina made a call Saturday to radically shrink government in a political system that favors “the big, the powerful, the wealthy and the well-connected.”

The former Hewlett-Packard CEO said she agrees with 75 percent of the U.S. population that feels the federal government is corrupt.

She touted business experience as her qualifier to bring about real cuts, changes and reform that have long formed talking points for Republican politicos.

Obradovich: Call this GOP forum 'Cruz-a-palooza'

Terrorism, debt, gun rights dominate Rising Tide Summit

As the final candidate speaker at the Rising Tide Summit in Cedar Rapids, Fiorina stretched her allotted 14 minutes into a 21-minute speech. She focused on “taking America back” and bringing relief to “the small and powerless.”

She said the first step toward that goal requires paring down an exhaustive tax code from 73,000 pages to three – something she said will shift advantage away from the rich and powerful.

That action will also begin a series of major cuts in federal spending, starting with elimination of the Internal Revenue Service, she said.

“We now have more personnel in the IRS than we have in the CIA and FBI combined. That’s a fact, ladies and gentlemen,” she said. “We have to replace the IRS.”

QUOTE: “It’s clear the possibilities for too many Americans, indeed the potential of this great nation, is now being crushed by a government that has grown so big, so powerful, so costly, so complicated, so inept and so corrupt.”

BEST MOMENT: Fiorina got loud applause when she recommended holding politicians to the same standard of accountability as CEOs of private businesses. She also earned a loud reaction for a promise to “stand for life and religious liberty."

AUDIENCE REACTION: Despite appearing as the last candidate in a four-hour program, Fiorina was interrupted frequently by loud applause, and she received a standing ovation at the end.